Lower Saucon to study 2nd Cingular cell tower

The township planners have urged rejection of the 160-foot antenna as a zoning violation.

June 18, 2001|By KEVIN PENTÓN Of The Morning Call

Lower Saucon Township Council will hold a special meeting on June 26 to rule on a Cingular Wireless propopsal to erect a second cellular tower, which would violate a township ordinance.

A company attorney questioned the legality of the ordinance before the township's Planning Commission last Monday. Cingular's proposal was rejected.

Cingular's attorney, John Mahoney, also questioned whether another township regulation that requires cellular-phone towers to be set back from property lines by 1.5 times the height of the tower would pass legal muster.

"This ordinance apparently sees no difference between a property that is a million acres or half-an-acre," said Mahoney. "There are some questions about the legality of the zoning."

Cingular, which is making the proposal in conjunction with Delaware Valley PCS Communications, also considers the proposal to have been approved by default because more than 60 days have passed since it submitted its plans on March 29, Mahoney said.

Debra Ross, the township's zoning officer, said Cingular's submission was not deemed complete until April 27, giving Lower Saucon's Council until June 26 to hear the matter.

Development proposals to Lower Saucon must satisfy a long checklist of legal conditions before they are deemed complete, Ross said. But if the township does not rule on the proposal within 60 days, it is automatically deemed approved.

Ross said she did not wish to comment further on the proposal, citing Mahoney's reference to Cingular's possibly taking legal action against the township.

During the Planning Commission meeting on Monday, Ross said the proposed 160-foot tower at 4105 Sherry Hill Road would be 60 feet from the closest curb. The tower would have to be at least 240 feet from the curb to meet the township's minimum setback requirements.

"This proposal came in with no cover letter, no explanation, no nothing," said Ross. "It does not comply with the requirements of our ordinances."

After telling planners about potential legal challenges, Mahoney said that in the unlikely event that powerful winds destabilized the tower, its design would cause it to bend over on itself, not topple entirely to the ground.

Planning Commission member Tom Maxfield then interrupted Mahoney to make a motion to reject the proposal.

"They're trying to shove a cell tower down the township's throats," said Maxfield. "It's almost like they're flaunting our ordinances."

The Planning Commission's solicitor recommended that Maxfield withdraw his motion and hear out Cingular's case on the condition that the company grant the planners an extension to hear the proposal. But when Mahoney turned down the offer, the planners voted to recommend rejection of the plan.